The "whole world coming to South Africa" to mourn Mandela

Johannesburg – Around 70 heads of state and 10 former heads of state have confirmed their attendance for Tuesday’s official memorial service for the late former South African President, Nelson Mandela, according to a report on Eyewitness News on Monday.

“The whole world is literally coming to South Africa” said International Relations and Co-operation spokesperson Clayson Monyela.

“We wish to reiterate that our international guests are most welcome as they join us at this difficult time,” said Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane in a statement on Sunday.

American President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, have confirmed their attendance, along with Former American Presidents, George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and their wives.

“The Brazilian President, Ms. Dilma Rousseff will be accompanied by four former Heads of State,” said Chabane.

The United Nations Chief, Ban Ki Moon also confirmed his attendance at Tuesday’s service, and will fly directly from Paris, France where he is currently attending a peace summit.

But Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday he would not attend the memorial service himself, and will send another Israeli representative. According to the Jerusalem Post, the trip is too expensive and short-notice, and would cost the Prime Minister some NIS 7 million, about R20.6 million.

Mandela was a vocal supporter of the Palestinian people.

The Dalai Lama, who was controversially denied a visa to South Africa twice, also announced he “has no plans to go” to Tuesday’s service.

Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium will host the official service, and will open its gates from 06:00.  The service is free to everyone and will operate on a “first come first serve” basis. President Jacob Zuma will begin the service at 11:00, after which other heads of states will pay tribute.

Private cars will not be allowed within the vicinity of the FNB Stadium, and roads will be closed off as of midnight on Monday, said the Chief Superintendent of Johannesburg Metro Police, Wayne Minnaar.

Those that are unable to attend the service at the FNB Stadium will be directed to the Ellis Park, Orlando and Dobsonville stadiums where big screens will be installed for the public, said Chabane.

“People must accept that at some stage this capacity will be filled and police and other authorities will turn people away. We call on people to cooperate and demonstrate patience and dignity if they were to be turned away,” he added.

Mugabe Mourns Mandela

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe paid tribute to Nelson Mandela on Saturday, describing the South African liberation icon as "a champion of the oppressed".

"Mr Mandela's renowned political life will forever remain a beacon of excellence," Mugabe, Africa's oldest ruler at 89, said in his first official reaction, carried by the state-run newspaper The Herald.

Mandela, the founding father of modern South Africa and its first black leader, died late Thursday aged 95.

"Not only was he a great champion of the emancipation of the oppressed, but he was also a humble and compassionate leader who showed selfless dedication to the service of his people," Mugabe said.

"The late Nelson Mandela will forever remain in our minds as an unflinching fighter for justice," said Mugabe, who early this year criticised Mandela for being too soft on whites after the end of apartheid.

In a documentary in May, Mugabe said Mandela went "a bit too far in doing good to the non-black communities, really in some cases at the expense of (blacks)."

"That's being too saintly, too good, too much of a saint," he said.

Mandela's death evoked an outpouring of grief and tributes from world leaders and admirers across the globe.

In Zimbabwe, state and private radio stations played music in honour of the anti-apartheid hero while listeners phoned in with condolence messages.

Mandela will be buried on December 15 at his childhood rural home of Qunu in South Africa's Eastern Cape province.

Ghanaian children exposed to toxic lead in toys - UN report

A United Nations report has revealed that young children and pregnant women in developing countries including Ghana are exposed to high levels of toxic lead in paints used to decorate toys.

The United Nations Environment Programme reported of danger of exposure to paints in colours red and yellow, particularly in the course of a recent International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action.

UN says parents painting their child’s nursery a cheerful red, or handing their child a colourful toy may, through no fault of theirs, be exposing the child to lead - a pernicious toxin.

According to the World Health Organization, exposure to lead paint can be particularly grave among children, especially those living in low and middle-income countries which account for 99 percent of children affected by high exposure to lead.

An estimated 143,000 deaths per year results from lead poisoning, often linked to lead paint while some 600,000 new cases of intellectual disabilities are linked to childhood lead exposure.

WHO says Lead poisoning remains the number one environmental health concern especially for children globally.

The UN study found that the majority of the paints tested would not meet regulatory standards established in most highly industrialized countries, and that few countries have established regulatory frameworks for lead paint.

The research analyzed enamel decorative paints from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia and Uruguay.

The report is aimed at raising awareness among Governments, manufacturers and consumers, not just that the problem exists, but that there are cheaper and safer alternatives to lead already i

16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM GAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE:SEXUAL OFFENCES COURTS REINSTATED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The reinstatement of sexual offences courts will boost South Africa's efforts to combat gender-based violence, says Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana.

Xingwana was speaking to SAnews ahead of the launch of this year's 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign at Mmabatho stadium in Mafikeng, North West province on Sunday.

"With the re-opening of the sexual offences courts, the huge backlog of these cases [of violence against women and children], will be cut down," Xingwana said.

She said the country's fight against gender-based violence was far from being a losing battle.

"I cannot say I am happy, because the scourge is still unacceptable high. But what we are saying is that we've moved as government, as we've re-opened the sexual offences courts, and we've re-opened the family violence, child protection and sexual offences units within the South African Police Service."

Justice Minister Jeff Radebe announced in August that 22 sexual offences courts were to be reintroduced by the end of the 2013/14 financial year, and that up to 57 sexual offences courts would be operational countrywide within in the next three years.

The courts will feature specially trained officials, procedures and equipment to reduce the chance of secondary trauma for victims.

There will be a proper screening process to identify cases that fall within the sexual offences category; a special room where victims will testify; a private waiting room for adult witnesses; and a private waiting room for child witnesses and victim support services.

The courts will also include special equipment to enable victims to identify the accused from the testifying room when required to do so, as well as a designated court clerk and a court preparation programme for witnesses to prepare for court and to provide debriefing after they have testified.

The concept of sexual offences courts was introduced in South Africa in 1993 and by the end of 2005, there were 74 sexual offences courts countrywide. The special courts had been phased out over the years because of budget constraints.

Radebe said the specialised courts would be prompt, responsive and effective, reduce secondary victimisation, improve the skills of court personnel, speed up the finalisation of cases and contribute to their efficient prosecution and adjudication.

Xingwana on Sunday urged South Africans to blow the whistle on gender-based violence in order to create a society that is safe and secure for women and children.

The minister also urged the law enforcement agencies to arrest and impose harsh sentences on those who are found guilty of abusing women and children.

Co-leading the launch, North West Premier Thandi Modise said her office was running a One Million Signature campaign against rape.

"Awareness is being created across the province, as we are working with the police and traditional leaders. We are also looking at tightening places of safety for victims," Modise said. "We want to ensure that the vulnerable ... are given enough self-confidence to report all cases of gender-based violence."

Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/services/rights/16days-251113.htm#.Uq6dlNKSyT4#ixzz2ncIhJW7F

Lawsuit Aims to Cancel Brazil Non-Conventional-Gas Concessions

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office has filed a lawsuit aimed at canceling the non-conventional-gas concessions that were awarded in an auction earlier this week, officials said.

The AG’s office said Friday that if the attempt to cancel the contracts does not prosper it will sue to bar the use of a controversial method for extracting those gas reserves that is known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Banned in several countries due to the threat it poses to environment, that method involves pumping a pressurized fluid – usually composed of water, sand and chemicals – into low-permeability rocks to create a fracture in the rock layer and release pockets of the trapped fuel.

The AG’s office also asked Brazil’s ANP energy regulator not to hold any more auctions of shale and other non-conventional-gas concessions until more thorough studies are carried out into fracking’s impact on the environment and human health.

A total of 240 exploratory gas blocks located in five onshore basins were on offer in Thursday’s auction, although, due to low interest from major multinational energy companies, only 72 concessions were awarded.

Most of the interest came from Brazilian state-controlled energy giant Petrobras, which – either alone or as part of a consortium – acquired 49 of the blocks, the ANP said.

The regulator raised 165.9 million reais (some $75.4 million), far below the minimum of 2.2 billion reais (some $1 billion) in revenue that the ANP hoped to generate from the auction.

The areas auctioned Thursday received little interest, due, among other reasons, to the fact they are onshore blocks located in remote and little-explored regions.

The lack of complete rules in Brazil governing fracking also may have dampened interest in the blocks from multinational energy companies.

FRACKING UNDERWAY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

While a fierce debate rages about fracking in South Africa and elsewhere, the Botswana government has been silently pushing ahead with plans to produce natural gas, keeping the country in the dark as it grants concessions over vast tracts of land, including half of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve—the ancestral home of the San people.

A new documentary film—The High Cost of Cheap Gas—has uncovered incontrovertible evidence that drilling and fracking are underway in Botswana and that international companies are planning massive gas operations in the future. But there has been little attempt to inform the public, despite growing international concerns about the harmful effects of natural gas production.

“The people of Botswana have the right to know about developments on this scale and to be given the chance to publicly debate their pros and cons and then decide whether natural gas production is in their best interest,” said Jeffrey Barbee, director of the film, which was funded by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.

For more than a decade, the authorities in Botswana—routinely referred to as one of Africa’s best-governed states—have been quietly granting licenses to international companies. South Africa’s SASOL, Australian-based Tamboran Resources, Anglo American, Tlou Energy, Kalahari Energy, Exxaro, and many more are drilling for coal bed methane without any public debate about the industry, particularly the serious threats these large-scale developments pose to the environment and communities.

While activists have been campaigning against the extraction of shale gas and coal bed methane for years, the film documents alarming new evidence from the United States, exposing the damage these industries can inflict on human and animal health, and the environment. Structural problems with the entire production process mean that “unconventional” natural gas like this can end up being “dirtier” than coal—contributing even more to greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change.

For a water-scarce country like Botswana, gas extraction—whether through fracking or simple drilling—poses another worrying threat: Coal Bed Methane extraction requires vast amounts of water to be pumped out of the ground, which can significantly lower the water table. In some parts of America, where this process was pioneered, water tables have dropped by as much as 30 meters.

“Lowering the water table in parts of rural Botswana could mean the difference between a community having access to water one day and not the next,” said the film’s director, Jeffrey Barbee. “It might be in Botswana’s best interests to allow fracking but only if all the potential impacts based on the latest science—not just the promises of gas companies—are openly debated and if the regulations are tough enough and are rigorously enforced long after drilling has stopped.”

However, if America is anything to go by, the natural gas industry is adept at undermining, bypassing, or riding roughshod over government regulations and regulators. Astonishingly, fracking companies in the USA are not bound by the Clean Air Act, the Community Right to Know Act, or the Clean Water Act.

And despite Botswana government claims to the contrary, a senior official at SASOL, which is planning thousands of gas wells in Botswana, says in the film that they were not required to produce an environmental management plan. Apparently, SASOL did produce one anyway since it is international best practice, but other companies might be more willing to exploit this inexplicable weakness in the regulations.

In particular, there are fears that the hard-won right of the San to live on, and access water from, their ancestral land will be threatened by the coal bed methane concessions in and around the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Indeed, according to the film, drilling is already taking place within the confines of the world-famous reserve.

Elsewhere in the country, the unfenced buffer zones on the borders of other bio-diversity rich—and economically important—national parks, like Chobe and Kgalagadi, are already being drilled. In fact, it appears that the government has also granted some concessions within Chobe National Park. This endangers not only the local communities but also the largest herd of migrating elephants left in the world.

The gas industry promises jobs and economic development but evidence from the USA shows that the few local jobs are created and that riches usually do not trickle down to the local communities, who have to live with the extraction.

“It is time for the Botswana government to come clean about natural gas operations in the country and to encourage an open and genuine debate so that the population can decide what is best for them and their country—not just an elite few,” said Barbee. “Instead the authorities keep everyone in the dark, particularly the San, who now face another grave threat to their future from Botswana’s secretive dash for gas.”

GEF Grants Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund-US Direct Access to Environmental Funding

WASHINGTON, DC, November 5, 2013?Two global civil society organizations, Conservation International (CI) and the World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US) can now directly access funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under a decision welcomed today by the GEF?s governing Council.

The decision marks an important milestone in the 22-year history of the GEF. For the first time, civil society organizations can directly access GEF funding for environmental projects without having to go through another GEF agency. The approval given to CI and WWF-US by an independent GEF Accreditation Panel comes after a rigorous assessment confirmed that they meet the GEF?s fiduciary standards and environmental and social safeguards. A review process considering applications by other organizations to become GEF Project Agencies is underway.

In remarks Tuesday to the GEF Council, meeting in Washington this week, GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii congratulated CI and WWF-US on the approval. Both organizations have a long history of working with the GEF. The partnership designation gives them much greater initiative in the design of projects, and responsibility in their implementation.

?I would like to sincerely welcome Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund-US to the GEF family. The accreditation of new GEF Project Agencies, enabling them to access GEF funds to implement environmental projects, is an important way to strengthen the GEF Partnership. I am very excited about having CI and WWF-US among us. CI and WWF-US will help us further diversify the GEF?s tool-box, and allow us to present countries with a broader array of options that can best support them to address the drivers of global environmental degradation ? Ishii said.

CI and WWF-US join the roster of 10 GEF Agencies: the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and the World Bank.

?We are pleased and honored to receive the accreditation as a GEF Project Agency. This is a historic moment for us as it will be the first time that non-governmental organizations can directly access and disburse resources from the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment. We look forward to working together with governments, private sector and other GEF agencies to design strong projects that will leverage science-based solutions to protect nature for human well-being but also contribute to the sustainable development agenda?, said Lilian Spijkerman, Vice President of Global Public Partnerships at Conservation International?s Center for Environment and Peace.

?WWF is proud to join the GEF partnership. We commit to work with the GEF and leverage our partnerships and resources to help developing countries address some of the biggest challenges of our day. Natural resource depletion and climate change continue to destabilize ecosystems. We need a whole new set of partnerships and innovations to ensure a future in which both people and nature thrive,? said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund ? US (WWF-US).

(Left to right) Niels Crone, Chief Operations Officer of Conservation International and Carter Roberts, President and CEO of WWF-US

CI has worked with the GEF since its inception in 1991 in endeavors ranging from engaging as a member of the GEF non-governmental organization network to supporting the execution of approximately $80 million in GEF funding in the past seven years. CI?s vast experience in innovative funding for environmental projects and private sector engagement and will add immense value to the network of agencies by providing expertise in the most pressing environmental and development challenges.

WWF offices around the world have been involved with the design or execution of more than 100 GEF projects over the past 20 years. With over 5,000 conservation professionals in more than 100 countries, the breadth of WWF?s global presence is unmatched among conservation non-governmental organizations. WWF-US is the North American branch of WWF.

About the Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.

Since 1991, the GEF has achieved a strong track record with developing countries and countries with economies in transition, providing $11.5 billion in grants and leveraging $57 billion in co-financing for over 3,215 projects in over 165 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has also made more than 16,030 small grants directly to civil society and community based organizations, totaling $653.2 million.

TANZANIA NEEDS LAW TO CONTROL LEAD PAINT

 

EACH year, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, childhood lead exposure causes an estimated 600,000 new cases of intellectual disabilities and 143,000 deaths.

99 per cent of the victims live in low-and middleincome countries’, which include Tanzania.

 

Experts say lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray metal found in the earth’s crust. Prior to current knowledge of its health hazards, it was widely used in products such as gasoline, batteries, metal products, crystal, food cans, fishing sinkers and ammunition.

 

It is also contained in paints. It is well known for its anti-corrosive properties and has been extensively used in construction industry. Despite its seemingly usefulness, lead poisoning is said to be the number one environmental health concern for children globally, with lead paint as a major flashpoint for children’s potential lead poisoning.

 

“In this day and age, it is quite frankly breathtaking that parents painting their child’s nursery a cheerful red, or handing their child a colourful toy may, through no fault of their own be exposing that child to a pernicious and damaging toxin: lead,” said Nick Nuttall, UN Environment Programme’s Spokesperson and Director of Communications recently.

 

Indeed, more than 90 years after the League of Nations called for a ban on lead in paint, and despite the existence of many safe alternatives, young children and pregnant mothers in the developing world are still exposed to high levels of the dangerous toxin through unsafe paints.

 

It is against this background the first ever International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action (Theme: “Eliminating Lead in Paints”) under the auspices of the United Nations was marked from October 20-26, this year.

The event aimed at raising awareness about lead poisoning, highlight efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning, and to urge further action to eliminate lead paint.

 

As the main organiser, the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (GAELP), which is jointly coordinated by the UNEP and the WHO, invited governments, industries, civil society groups and other stakeholders to support and participate in the Week of Action.

 

As a key stakeholder in the awareness campaign, the Executive Secretary of Dar es Salaam-based Agenda for Environment and Responsible Development (AGENDA) Silvani Mng’anya called for concerted efforts by the government and other stakeholders to address the lead exposure problem.

 

Registered in 1997, AGENDA is a non-governmental, non profit sharing organisation (NGO) whose mission is to promote a culture of responsibility to the environment amongst the general public through advocacy, capacity building and stakeholders’ involvement in Tanzania and beyond.

 

Giving AGENDA’s situational analysis on lead paint in Tanzania, Mr Mng’anya says today paints are still sold with added lead in developing countries and countries with economies in transition such as Tanzania. He says this was demonstrated during a Global Study on Lead in Paint in 2009 conducted by Toxics Link, the International Persistent Organic Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) in collaboration with NGOs in various countries.

 

AGENDA was amongst the partners who participated in the said study, which collected 20 samples of oil based paint available in Tanzanian market. 19 out of 20 paints had lead levels above 450 parts per million (PPM). On what the law says about Lead Paint in Tanzania, the Agenda boss says the study in 2009 and a follow-up one last year, noted that there was a voluntary standard set by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards which indicates Lead in Paint should not exceed 450 ppm or 0.045%.

 

“Also the Industrial and Consumer Chemicals Act No. 3 of 2003 Sect. 30 support the restriction, banning and elimination of all proven dangerous and toxic chemicals to human health and environment and chemicals which are subjected to action according to international Convention or Treaty ratified in the United Republic of Tanzania.

 

However, there are no specific laws or regulations on lead in paint in Tanzania.” He says human exposure to lead is mainly through inhalation, ingestion, or in a small number of cases, absorption through the skin. “Lead has the same affinity for our biological systems as essential minerals such as iron, calcium and zinc.

 

Lead causes harm wherever it deposits in the body. In the blood stream, for example, it damages red blood cells and limits their ability to carry oxygen to tissues and organs. Most lead ends up in the bones, where it interferes with the production of blood cells and the absorption of calcium that bone needs to grow healthy and strong.’

 

According to experts, young children are most vulnerable as their growing bodies absorb lead more easily than adults. Even low level of lead exposure may harm their intellectual development, growth, behaviour and hearing. Furthermore, during pregnancy, especially in the last trimester, lead can cross the placenta and affect the unborn child.

 

Female workers exposed to high levels of lead have higher risk of miscarriages and still births.

 

Also people with occupational exposure to lead, like painters, renovators, workers in refineries and smelters, have higher risk of lead poisoning.

 

A study by the UN Environment Programme, released during the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action, analysed enamel decorative paints from nine countries: Argentina,

Azerbaijan, Chile, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia and Uruguay.

 

The report found that the majority of the paints tested would not meet regulatory standards established in most highly industrialised countries- for example, 90 parts per million (ppm) in the United States and Canada-and that some contain astonishingly high and dangerous levels of lead.

 

While the report covers nine countries, previous research by IPEN and others shows that lead levels remain high in other countries with economies in transition.

 

For example, a study published in September 2012 by the Kenyan NGO iLima found an average lead concentration of 14,900 ppm in 31 samples of household paint.

 

Over the last seven years, similar studies found equally unsettling concentrations in other African nations: Cameroon, 23,100 ppm; Egypt, 26,200; Nigeria (two studies), 37,000 and 15,750 ppm; Senegal 5,870 ppm; South Africa, 19,860; and Tanzania 14,500 ppm. Worldwide, 30 countries have already phased out the use of lead paint.

 

The Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, co-led by WHO and UNEP, has set a target of 70 countries by 2015. “While this study shows many nations face a grave problem, it always very clearly demonstrates that established and enforced government regulations on lead levels in paint have a strong positive impact,” said Sara Brosche, Project Manager for IPEN’s lead paint projects.

 

“However, paint manufacturers have a responsibility to act on their own, particularly when there is virtually no associated negative economic impact for their businesses. There is absolutely no reason why paints with high levels of lead should continue to be sold and poison children.”

 

The report recommends action in three distinct areas: Regulatory Frameworks: National efforts to promote the establishment of an appropriate legal and regulatory framework to control the manufacture, import, export, sale and use of lead paints and products coated with lead paints should be encouraged.

 

The evidence of paints with very low lead contents coexisting in the market with equivalent lead paint suggests there should be few economic barriers to the introduction of legal or regulatory controls and the elimination of lead paint. Public Awareness: There is a need for information campaigns in countries where results show the presence of lead paint on the market.

 

These campaigns should inform the public about the hazards of lead exposure, especially in children; the presence of lead decorative paints for sale and use on the national market; lead paint as a significant source of childhood lead exposure; and availability of technically superior and safer alternatives.

 

Voluntary Action and Labelling: Paint manufacturers in countries that lack a well-enforced national lead paint control regime are encouraged to eliminate lead compounds from their paint formulations, especially of those paints likely to contribute to lead exposure in children and others.

 

Paint manufacturers also are encouraged to consider voluntary participation in programmes that provide third party paint certification that no lead has been added to their paint, and to label products in ways that help consumers identify paints that do not contain added lead.

 

Indeed the seriousness of the problem calls for need to raise awareness among governments, manufacturers and consumers not just that the problem exists, but that there are cheap and safe alternatives to lead already in use that can lift this health burden in a very short time.

 

“The good news is that exposure to lead paint can be entirely stopped through a range of measures to restrict the production and use of lead paint,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director for Public Health and Environment.

WHO: Lead paint causes 600,000 cases of intellectual disabilities a year. Chinese migrant workers put a new coat of white paint on pedestrian barriers lining a street in Beijing. UPI/Stephen Shaver

| License Photo

Every last week of October each year is set aside for campaign against Lead poisoning globally.

Last month in commemoration of the week in New York, a U.N. Health official had this to say; "Countries should strengthen actions to eliminate lead paint, which causes as estimate 600,000 disabilities each year".

Maria Neira, director for Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization, said 30 countries phased out use of lead paint and the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint has set a target of 70 countries by 2015.

WHO estimated 143,000 deaths per year result from lead poisoning, with lead paint is a major contributor. Exposure contributes to 600,000 new cases of children with intellectual disabilities every year and 99 percent of children affected by high exposure to lead live in low- and middle-income countries.

At high levels of exposure, lead damages the brain and central nervous system to cause coma, convulsions and even death. Children who survive such poisoning are often left with intellectual impairment and behavioral disorders, Neira said.

At lower levels of exposure, lead affects brain development in children, resulting in reduced IQ, behavioral changes such as shortened attention span and increased anti-social behavior, and reduced educational attainment. These effects are believed to be irreversible.

Adults are at increased risk of kidney disease and raised blood pressure, Neira said.

Lead paint may be found in the home, on toys, furniture and on other objects. Decaying lead paint on walls, furniture and other interior surfaces creates lead-contaminated dust in the home that young children easily ingest.

"The good news is that exposure to lead paint can be entirely stopped through a range of measures to restrict the production and use of lead paint," Neira said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/10/18/WHO-143000-deaths-per-year-from-lead-poisoning/UPI-11551382150700/#ixzz2jNPA1Lra

GLOBAL ACTIVISTS:PAINT MAKERS MUST AGREE TO REMOVE LEAD IN PAINT

Lead might give red, yellow and white paints their bright hues and be cheaper to use than alternatives, but concerns remains about the health risks of lead poisoning, particularly in the developing world.

As the United Nations launches a week of action against lead poisoning, the manufacturer of Dulux paint has today called on its industry to voluntarily ban lead compounds from its supply chain.

Some firms have already started to develop lead-free alternative paints, but AkzoNobel believes it is the only paint company in the world to have a blanket ban on lead from its products. In 2011, it produced its last drop of paint containing lead and now only uses safer lead-free alternatives.

However, the rest of the industry has so far resisted calls to phase out lead entirely, despite the proven health risks associated with the material - lead poisoning has been blamed for 0.6 per cent of the global burden of disease and is said to result in 600,000 new cases of learning difficulties in children each year. Earlier this month, the International Paint and Printing Ink Council (IPPIC) issued a statement effectively saying it is working to comply with any legislation, but is also reluctant to take a lead on the issue.

The European Union is already on track to ban all lead compounds from June 2015, after it was labelled as a material of "high concern" under the REACH chemical regulations.

But Julian Hunter, regulatory affairs manager for AkzoNobel, argues that companies should be taking a more proactive approach in order to anticipate new chemicals rules coming into effect around the globe.

Last week AkzoNobel wrote to all the trade associations of which it is a member asking to discuss the prospects for a voluntary industry agreement to phase out lead. The move included letters to the IPPIC and the coatings associations representing Britain, Europe and America.

"As paint manufacturers we all have a responsibility to take care for the people who come into contact with our products and the environment in which they are used," the letter states. "Given effective alternatives are available, we do not believe that continued use of coatings containing lead compounds is compatible with Coatings Care, Product Stewardship or the Sustainability aspirations of our industry. Therefore in our opinion continued use of lead compounds in paint is now unacceptable to society."

Hunter told BusinessGreen that AkzoNobel's company ban has already removed 300 tonnes of lead compounds per year from its products, adding that an industry-wide voluntary ban could have a major impact on global health.

"We believe that if all the companies in the world followed our example, the environment would be saved from hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of lead," Hunter told BusinessGreen. "We're saying we'd like to take a more proactive lead and lead by example, we could do this quite quickly as the alternatives to lead pigments and driers are available, you can buy them off the shelf from suppliers and suppliers will tell you how to formulate with them, so it's not rocket science. All paint companies have good lab chemists on their staff who should be able to formulate products that don't use lead compounds in them."

The cost of such a transition is inevitably the main barrier to the adoption of a global ban, as safer alternatives to lead-based paints tend to be more expensive. But Hunter reckons the price of cleaner raw materials would fall if an industry-wide ban was enacted.

AkzoNobel is one of the largest paint companies in the world, but it remains to be seen whether it can encourage its peers to embrace its lead-free push. Since writing the letter, the company said it has only received one response - the British Coatings Association said that it would consult with its members about the proposal.

AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES A NO LEAD INTERACTIVE WEBSITE

The LEAD Group, environmental NGO, is pleased to announce the launch this weekend of a new web site, ‘Lead Safe World’ (www.leadsafeworld.com), in partnership with Evo Building Products, the National Painting & Decorating Institute of Australia (NPDI), Aussie Painters Network, Home Painters Info and Lead Safe America Foundation.

The new site is part of The LEAD Group’s Lead Safe World Project – and its major contribution to the World Health Organization’s Inaugural International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action 20-26 Oct 2013. “The site will promote lead safety actions everyone can take, rather than being a broad-ranging archive of information about the history of lead, the health effects of lead, sources of lead contamination, etc., as our existing web site is (www.lead.org.au),” says Elizabeth O’Brien, President of The LEAD Group.

“The Project will assist in the promotion of products and services which are lead-free or lead-safe, or which remove lead from the body, or from a lead-polluted site,” she says.

“Companies and products which help manage lead poisoning and lead contamination will be easily-identified by Logos: ‘Lead free’, ‘Lead safe’ and ‘Lead away.’

“Our existing web site will remain a tremendous source of information”, says Ms O’Brien, “but this new site will concentrate on solutions: preventing lead poisoning and contamination and removing lead contamination or lead from the body, all in one convenient, concentrated ‘package’ of information, companies, and products.”

“We are inviting partnerships with organisations and companies with appropriate solutions to lead problems, lead-free products and lead-safe services, to join us.”

Ms O’Brien also announced the launch of a 2014 Lead-Safe World Calendar, for sale at http://volcanoartprize.com/purchase-calendar/ - each month of the year is illustrated by a winning art entry on the subject of lead safety.

The Vol 14 No 1 issue of LEAD Action News went online today too, atwww.leadsafeworld.com/media/newsletters/201310.pdf, and lists some of the media coverage of the WHO Lead Week of Action in 17 countries, including the USA.

Despite Australia being the world’s largest lead exporter, every level of government, every agency, every politician has left marking the Week of Action in Australia, up to The LEAD Group and its Lead Safe World Partners.

GOODNEWS:FRACKING BANNED IN FRANCE

PARIS –  France's constitutional council  upheld a law banning fracking in France last October this year, keeping in place a law that had been a centerpiece of the Socialist president's campaign.

Activists say fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is disastrous for the environment, spewing dirty water, fouling the air and sickening people and animals. France banned the practice in 2011 over the objections of the oil industry.

Fracking — sending a pressurized mix of water, sand and chemicals into shale to release the gas — has changed the energy landscape. Its use in the United States upended energy markets and led to wholesale prices for Americans that are about a third of what customers in Europe pay.

European Union lawmakers on Wednesday voted to require environmental studies from companies that want to use fracking.

LEAD IN PAINT A REALITY IN AFRICA-THE CASE OF TANZANIA

Lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray metal found in the earth's crust.
Prior to our current knowledge of the health hazards of lead, it has been
widely used in products such as gasoline, batteries, metal products,
crystal, food cans, fishing sinkers and ammunition. It is also contained in
paints. It is well known for its anti-corrosive properties and has been
extensively used in construction industry. This Blogg caught
up with Executive Secretary for AGENDA, Silvani Mng'anya. AGENDA promotes a
culture of responsibility to the environment amongst the general public
through advocacy, capacity building and stakeholders' involvement in
Tanzania and beyond. Here he explains about Lead, its uses, laws governing
Lead and its associated health challenges:



QUESTION: Is there lead paint in Tanzania?
ANSWER: First of all, lead paint is any paint that relies on lead compounds
for drying or for its colour. Usually lead is added to paints to speed up
drying after application to surfaces, maintain fresh appearance, and resist
moisture that causes corrosion. Some amount of lead is also associated with
the raw materials.

Today paints are still sold with added lead in developing countries and
countries with economies in transition such as Tanzania, South Africa,
Nigeria, Senegal, India and China. This was demonstrated during a Global
Study on Lead in Paint in 2009 conducted by Toxics Link, the International
POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) in collaboration with NGOs in the countries.
AGENDA for Environment and Responsible Development was amongst the partners
who participated in the study mentioned above. It collected 20 samples of
oil based paint available in Tanzanian market. 19 out of 20 paints had lead
levels above 450 ppm.

Q: What does the law say about lead paint in Tanzania?

A: During the study in 2009 and a follow-up one in 2012, it was noted that
there is a voluntary standard set by Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)
which indicates lead in paint should not exceed 450 ppm or 0.045 percent.
Also the Industrial and Consumer Chemicals Act No. 3 of 2003 Sect. 30 (1),
supports the restriction, banning and elimination of all proven dangerous
and toxic chemicals to human health and environment and chemicals which are
subjected to action according to international Convention or Treaty ratified
in the United Republic of Tanzania. There are no specific laws or
regulations on lead in paint in Tanzania.

Q: Are there such laws in other countries?

A: Most developing countries and countries with economy in transition do not
have regulations on the amount of lead in paint or only have voluntary
standard in place.

Q: If that is the case, why lead is of health concern?

A: Human exposure to lead is mainly through inhalation, ingestion, or in a
small number of cases, absorption through the skin - it is a poison. Lead
has the same affinity for our biological systems as essential minerals such
as iron, calcium and zinc. Lead causes harm wherever it deposits in the
body. In the blood stream, for example, it damages red blood cells and
limits their ability to carry oxygen to tissues and organs. Most lead ends
up in the bones, where it interferes with the production of blood cells and
the absorption of calcium that bone needs to grow healthy and strong.

Q: Who are the most vulnerable?

A: Young children, as their growing bodies absorb lead more easily than
adults. Even low level of lead exposure may harm their intellectual
development, growth, behaviour and hearing. During pregnancy for example,
especially in the last trimester, lead can cross the placenta and affect the
unborn child. Female workers exposed to high levels of lead have higher risk
of miscarriages and still births. People with occupational exposure to lead,
like painters, renovators, workers in refineries and smelters, have higher
risk of lead poisoning.

Q: What are lead poisoning symptoms?

A: Lead poisoning has no obvious signs, and most children do not report any
abnormal symptoms. Children with high levels of lead in their bodies might
report stomach-aches or exhibit decreased appetite, hyperactivity, sleeping
problems or irritability. Because these symptoms appear to mimic other
childhood problems, lead poisoning is sometimes mistaken for a cold or flue.
Other symptoms range from vomiting to madness to death.

Q: How to tell if a child has been poisoned by Lead?

A: Lead poisoning is only diagnosed through a blood test. A doctor or nurse
takes blood sample from a child. The sample is taken to medical laboratory
for analysis to find out the amount of lead in the blood and recommend the
action to be taken, if necessary.

Q: What about awareness about lead paint in Tanzania

A: A number of Government Ministries, Departments and its Agencies staff and
industrial managers are aware that some paints contain lead. However,
distributers, sellers and painters lack such awareness.

Q: What does lead stakeholders say about eliminating lead paints in Tanzania

A: Stakeholders' views include observation of the standard set by the
Tanzania Bureau of Standards on lead paint by producers as a starting point
and awareness raising on the fact that some paints contain lead; and the way
of preventing exposure and absorption to humans. They are also promoting
awareness and availability of the alternative material to lead for paint
production, elimination of lead paint to be on gradual basis and establish
guidelines addressing lead paints in relation to Industrial and Consumer
Chemicals Act No. 3 of 2003 to include controls on importation of lead
contained materials.

Q: What are the international initiatives already taken to reduce lead
exposure to health

A: A number of bans of lead paint happened across North America, Western
Europe, Asia and Africa over the past 70 years; for example lead has been
eliminated in gasoline in most countries. This was carried out on gradual
basis.

As for reduction of the level of lead paint-The International Conference on
Chemical Management at its Second Session (ICCM2, Geneva, 11-15 May 2009)
endorsed a proposal from Toxics Link, an IPEN participating organization
from India, to establish a global partnership to promote the phase-out of
the use of lead in paint as an important contribution to the implementation
of paragraph 57 of the plan of Implementation of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) and to the Strategic Approach to
International Chemicals Management (SAICM).

The overall goal of the partnership, called the Global Alliance to Eliminate
Lead Paints (GAELP), to prevent children's exposure to lead via paints
containing lead and to minimize occupational exposures to lead paints. The
broad objective is to phase out the manufacture and sale of paints
containing lead and eventually to eliminate the risks from such paint. The
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health
Organization (WHO) within their respective mandates and available resources
are serving as the Secretariat of the Global Alliance.

Q: How can we minimize the exposure to lead in paint?

A: lead in paint can be minimized by cleaning up paint chips and peeling
paint by wet washing, washing floors, counter tops and window sills
regularly with an all-purpose detergent, feeding children a healthy diet
that includes recommended amounts of iron, calcium and vitamin C and has
lower amount of fat and offering children health meals and snacks, such as
fruits so they will not put non-food items into their mouths. Other means
include using proper safety measures when renovating or remodelling a house,
like not using electric sanders or open flame torches to remove paints,
assuring that children and pregnant women do not enter a work area until
renovations are complete and the area has been thoroughly cleaned, washing a
child's hands, mouth and face, and toys often and removing shoes when coming
indoors so that lead dust is not tracked inside.


Also in the list are laundering work clothes separately from other clothes,
not serving or storing food in ceramic ware or other lead containing posts
and pans and stop burning waste oil, coloured newsprint, battery casings or
wood covered with paint in or near your home, as this could release lead
fumes.

Q: Suppose one is poisoned by lead, how can such a person be treated?
A: There is no effective treatment for lead poisoning. However, in extreme
cases, doctors may use chelaton drugs to treat children or adults with very
high blood lead levels. These medications are generally given in the
hospital either through intravenous or intramuscular injections or by mouth.


The medicine attaches to the lead in the blood and causes it to come out of
the body in the urine. If the lead level is very high, more than one
treatment session may be necessary to lower the amount of lead in the blood.
Even with treatment, lead takes a very long time to be removed from the body
and some of its effects may be permanent. Children with elevated blood
levels will need to live in a safe environment and be monitored repeatedly
for many years.